when it's been over 5 months

[Crissie 0]

My I-129F will hit 5 months on Saturday. I'm going to call USCIS on Monday to make an enquiry. I was just wondering, for people who have been in this situation before, does this ever actually make a difference? Were they able to tell you anything of interest? I'm really worried they're just going to give me some vague statement like, 'it's under review' or 'we're working on it.'

If they aren't able to do anything for me, what's the best approach to take from there? Politicians, lawyers? Or is this all a waste of time? My petition is straight forward: no children, criminal convictions, previous spouses, etc. Can't understand why it's taking so long.

[Alcheringa 39]

You did not receive an RFE?

Five months is quite a while to wait, but not necessarily out of bounds. Unfortunately.

As has been said before, you can contact your Senator for assistance. Mileage may vary, but it couldn't hurt. They field such requests throughout the day, and, after all, that's one of their functions. To take care of their constituents.

Find their official webpage, download their Privacy Act Release form (they need it to act on your behalf) and Request form, sign them, fax them in, and then follow up with a phone call.

And keep your fingers crossed.

[Crissie 0]

You did not receive an RFE?

Nope, no RFEs...yet. Not even a touch since Nov 16.

[Alcheringa 39]

Yikes. You have more patience than me.

May as well contact your Senator and see if that'll get the USCIS to figure out what drawer your petition was stuffed in.

[jgvmd1968 0]

My I-129F will hit 5 months on Saturday. I'm going to call USCIS on Monday to make an enquiry. I was just wondering, for people who have been in this situation before, does this ever actually make a difference? Were they able to tell you anything of interest? I'm really worried they're just going to give me some vague statement like, 'it's under review' or 'we're working on it.'

If they aren't able to do anything for me, what's the best approach to take from there? Politicians, lawyers? Or is this all a waste of time? My petition is straight forward: no children, criminal convictions, previous spouses, etc. Can't understand why it's taking so long.

I would definitely call. You can get to a higher level of support if you ask. Once there (or sometimes before), they can put in a request to find out what is taking so long and will notify you via email. I did that and get a response back the next day. Also contacting your congressperson is the way to go. Doing something always is better than doing nothing. When you call remember to tell them that your petition will be 5 months and that is the time listed on the VSC for processing of the I-129F. I had a request for evidence and my petition is going on 6 months now. I callled in and got to a higher level of support and they put in a request to find out what was taking so long. I got the response the next day via email: The reason: The investigation into my background continues....And it has nothing to do with my RFE!

[Christi and Ian 24]

Once my petition hit 5 months I scheduled an Infopass appointment to find out what the delay was, contacted my senator, and requested an expedite through the private contractors that USCIS calls "customer service".

We were approved less than a week later. I don't know if this was coincidence, or they got the idea...

[Crissie 0]

Once my petition hit 5 months I scheduled an Infopass appointment to find out what the delay was, contacted my senator, and requested an expedite through the private contractors that USCIS calls "customer service".

We were approved less than a week later. I don't know if this was coincidence, or they got the idea...

What does requesting an expedite entail?

[baron555 934]

My I-129F will hit 5 months on Saturday. I'm going to call USCIS on Monday to make an enquiry. I was just wondering, for people who have been in this situation before, does this ever actually make a difference? Were they able to tell you anything of interest? I'm really worried they're just going to give me some vague statement like, 'it's under review' or 'we're working on it.'

If they aren't able to do anything for me, what's the best approach to take from there? Politicians, lawyers? Or is this all a waste of time? My petition is straight forward: no children, criminal convictions, previous spouses, etc. Can't understand why it's taking so long.

[Christi and Ian 24]

What does requesting an expedite entail?

All it took was my talking to the so-called "customer service" person @ the USCIS phone number...letting them give their shpiel...explaining that the petition was now beyond normal processing times, and requesting an expedite, which I based on USCIS error - being that it was beyond normal processing time...He gave me no argument - put in the expedite request immediately. I have NO idea whether it helped or not...but I was going to go for every angle until someone finally looked at our petition.

Like I said, we were approved less than a week later.

[Joan >3 Bob 20]

My I-129F will hit 5 months on Saturday. I'm going to call USCIS on Monday to make an enquiry. I was just wondering, for people who have been in this situation before, does this ever actually make a difference? Were they able to tell you anything of interest? I'm really worried they're just going to give me some vague statement like, 'it's under review' or 'we're working on it.'

If they aren't able to do anything for me, what's the best approach to take from there? Politicians, lawyers? Or is this all a waste of time? My petition is straight forward: no children, criminal convictions, previous spouses, etc. Can't understand why it's taking so long.

Ours took exactly 5 months and 2 days. I was feeling the same as you are now and I was ready to contact the USCIS but all the sunned I received the email of approval and shortly there after the approval NOA2 letter. Try and be a little more patient even though it is hard to do.

[Ning 619]

My I-129F will hit 5 months on Saturday. I'm going to call USCIS on Monday to make an enquiry. I was just wondering, for people who have been in this situation before, does this ever actually make a difference? Were they able to tell you anything of interest? I'm really worried they're just going to give me some vague statement like, 'it's under review' or 'we're working on it.'

If they aren't able to do anything for me, what's the best approach to take from there? Politicians, lawyers? Or is this all a waste of time? My petition is straight forward: no children, criminal convictions, previous spouses, etc. Can't understand why it's taking so long.

Forget the idea of expidite. That wont work in your case. Forget the politicians; they require forms ect & take about 30 to 60 days to respond with anything useful. Their staff is trained to placate the citizen & not much more in most cases.

Best way to get first hand info & help from people that can access you case info is to make an INFO PASS appointment. Do that by finding the link on the USCIS site. I did this & got some results after many months of waiting. They will put in a request to find out whats up. Prepare to hear excatly what you said they would say. If there was something they needed from you, you would know.

I went to INFO PASS only to be told it would be at least 60 days before I heard anything. Two days later the case was approved & I recieved a letter from USCIS telling me so.

[machnikt 0]

We hit the 5 months on March 16. My wife called that very day to find out what might be going on. The official on the phone checked into our case and made a note to the effect that he was moving the application along. Following that phone call we began to get a flurry of emails:

March 22: "On March 19, 2010, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I130 IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN..."

March 22: "On March 19, 2010, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)...."

March 26: "Invoice for Affidavit of Support" - paid right away

April 3: "The NVC has received the Agent of Choice selection..." i.e. confirmation on DS-2032 (I emailed NVC authorizing my wife to receive correspondence on my behalf)

April 5: Invoice for IV - paid right away

I would most def call and see what's going on with your case.

Here is a follow up question: My NVC number starts with MTL which suggests to me that my case may be going to Montreal for further processing. Now, I live in Vancouver and would much rather go for an interview here, locally. Does anyone know if there is a way to request a specific city for an interview?

Much appreciated,

Tomas